Etta D. Pisano, M.D.Vice President for Medical AffairsDean, College of Medicine

Dear Colleagues:

Thanks for Another Great Year

As we close out one academic year and begin another one, I’d like to thank all members of the college for everything you’ve done over the past year that has contributed to our many successes and achievements. I continue to be encouraged and impressed by the dedication, talent and commitment of our faculty, staff, students and trainees, and I am confident that together we will continue to accomplish great things. While we continue to face many challenges as an institution, the past year has brought much success across each of our missions.

As I’ve done the past two years, I will elaborate on our accomplishments over the past year and on our plans for the future in my State of the College address, which will be held on Monday, September 9, at 4:00 p.m. As we continue to implement the university-wide funds flow process and as financial pressures continue to challenge our institution, I will also be presenting a Town Hall meeting focused on college financial issues – this will be held on Wednesday, September 18, at 4:00 p.m. More information, including the locations for these meetings, will be forthcoming. I hope all members of the college who are interested will plan to attend these meetings. As always, I look forward to hearing your input and feedback.

Student Clinician Ceremony and Humanism in Medicine Awards

Last week, we celebrated our third year medical students at the Class of 2015 Student Clinician Ceremony to mark their transition to their clinical years/clerkships. Those students were presented with white coats and participated in the medical student oath. This event was also an occasion to honor our Gold Humanism Honor Society inductees, and to present the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awards to several highly deserving residents. Dr. Paul Underwood provided the Humanism in Medicine address. Class of 2014 students inducted into the Honor Society included Mary Abel, Joseph Abro, Briggs Ahearn, Jason Bethea, Stephen Carek, Mark Curry, Alexandra Franklin, Alisha Joyner, Philip Kirn, Charles Leiner, Rahul Loungani, Sara Ritchie, Elizabeth Smith, and Robert Sharpe. Class of 2015 students inducted into the Honor Society included Vanessa Antoine, Kathryn Anderson, Tiffany Baker, Peomia Brown, Shayla Freeman, Christian Hicks, James McAlpine, David McCabe, Anna Meyer, Caitlin Shepherd, Daniel Weinberg, and Robert Williams. Residents honored with the Humanism and Excellent in Teaching Awards included Angela Choi (Ob/Gyn), Christina Cochran (Pediatrics), Brent Jewett (Surgery), Benjamin Kalivas (Internal Medicine/Psychiatry), William Lancaster (Surgery), and Annie Song Smith (Ob/Gyn). Please join me in congratulating these deserving students and residents on their accomplishments.

Dr. Vincent Pellegrini Nominated to Lead AAMC Council

Dr. Vincent Pellegrini, Jr., Chair of our Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has been nominated by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Board as Chair-Elect of the new AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies (CFAS). Once approved by CFAS membership, Dr. Pellegrini will also serve as an ex-officio member of the AAMC Board. We are fortunate to have MUSC so ably represented on these important AAMC groups by Dr. Pellegrini.

Extended Hour Preference Survey

Earlier this week, a survey was distributed to all MUSC, MUSC Physicians, and MUHA employees. The goal of this survey is to help the institution better understand our employees’ preferences for extended hours and access to health care providers. The results of the survey will be used to help us design and offer additional health care services to our employees in the future. All employees are encouraged to participate in the survey, which can be accessed at https://redcap.musc.edu/surveys/?s=IIy2MP.

Town Hall Meeting for College of Medicine with Provost Mark Sothmann

Provost Mark Sothmann is scheduling town hall meetings with each of the MUSC Colleges during the summer to provide updates on university-wide topics of interest. The town hall meeting for Dr. Sothmann with the College of Medicine has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 17, at 5:00 p.m. in the Drug Discovery Building Auditorium. All members of the College of Medicine are encouraged to attend to hear from Dr. Sothmann and ask him questions.

Discussion Forums

As a reminder, we have created new electronic discussion platforms focusing on education, research, clinical affairs, and general information from the Dean’s Office and the College of Medicine. These forums are intended to serve several purposes. First, they are another way for my office to share important information with faculty, staff, and students. Second, they are meant to encourage discussion about issues within the college and to empower everyone within the college to voice their opinions. These “discussion forums” are intended to be not only channels for messages to be sent out, but channels for YOUR ideas, comments and questions to be heard by college leadership. Your voice matters and we are pleased there is a new way for it to be heard. You can access these forums by using the following links and your net ID and password:

Let's work together to meet our strategic planning goal - to be in the Top 25 among academic medical centers for reputation, quality, service, efficiency and financial performance by 2015. I look forward to hearing from you - either in person or via email.